Glycomics: Building Upon Proteomics to Advance Glycosciences

Abstract

Glycans are among the building blocks of the four major biomolecules of life—carbohydrates, nucleic acids, lipids, and proteins. Intriguingly, the other three major biomolecules of life either contain (ribo- or deoxyribonucleic acids) or can be modified with (glycolipids and glycoproteins) carbohydrates. To quote one of the leaders in the field of glycobiology, Ajit Varki of the University of California at San Diego, “Despite more than 3 billion years since the origin of life on earth, the powerful forces of biological evolution seem to have failed to generate any living cell that is devoid of a dense and complex array of cell surface glycans” (1). Given the importance of glycans and/or glycoconjugates to all fields of life science and their involvement in virtually every pathophysiological condition affecting mankind, the detection and analysis of these biomolecules is fundamental to understanding life. A recent National Academies of Science report (2) concludes that although a better understanding of glycoscience is required in order to advance improvements in human health and sustainability, efforts and investments in these biomolecules have lagged considerably behind expenditures in other areas of bioscience. This report further suggests that robust glycomic data analysis platforms and rigorously annotated glycan/glycoconjugate databases are needed to move the field forward.